Brian Harman saw what it takes to win the RBC Heritage. All the Savannah native had to do was look across the green Sunday to his playing partner Matt Kuchar.

While Kuchar carded a scintillating 7-under-par 64 — including seven birdies on the first 10 holes — to get to 11 under and earn his first tartan jacket, Harman posted a 69 and tied for seventh place at 6 under — his best finish in five tries at Harbour Town Golf Links.

“Kooch is a good friend of mine,” said Harman, a St. Simons Island resident while Kuchar is nearby on Sea Island.

“It’s good to see him play so well. I was trying to keep pace with him. He was too much today. He played great. It was good to at least finish well. It was my best finish at this place. I’m pleased with that.”

Harman was steady with rounds of 69-71-69-69 while playing in often wet and usually windy conditions. His low in 12 rounds at the Heritage before this year — including four as an amateur — was one round of 69 in 2013 when he tied for 59th and earned $12,644. His paycheck Sunday was a more robust $187,050, while Kuchar, who started the day tied with Harman at 4 under, collected $1,044,000 and the trophy.

“I’m getting into contention more often,” Harman, 27, said of his results in his third full season on the PGA Tour. “It feels really good to at least scare some guys. I feel like I’m ready to get close. I wish I could have played a little bit better. I’m pleased with the way I handled it.”

Finishing well

Harman and the rest of the field couldn’t match Kuchar, who capitalized on early birdie opportunities to surge to first place and then erased memories of his bogey at No. 17 by holing out of a greenside bunker at 18 for birdie and the one-stroke victory. Kuchar pumped his right arm in an animated celebration of the show-stopping shot.

Harman then followed with his own highlight, a 41-foot, 5-inch birdie putt on 18 and a restrained reaction — more of an eye roll and a smile — to close out a round when so many other putts didn’t fall for him.

“One finally goes,” said Harman, who was pleased to finish on a high note. “It’s just unfortunate because I felt like I played the last 36 holes as well as anyone. I really had good command on the ball striking. I just never quite got momentum on my side. I never that (birdie) run to like, ‘all right, here we go.’ It was always just having to play a little more conservatively than I would have liked.”

He did birdie the par-4 No. 6 from 9 feet, 8 inches away, and also No. 14 (for the third time this tournament) with a 26-foot, 11-inch beauty. That had immediately followed a disheartening bogey at No. 13 after a 7-foot par putt slid away from the edge of the cup.

Otherwise, the story of his day was, in his words, frustration. He had to settle for tap-in par putts at Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11 and 12. Those are a lot of almosts.

“I only had three birdies today,” Harman said. “I didn’t have my best stuff coming in to the greens. I hit a couple of close ones and just could not get it rolling — just needed a couple of putts to drop to get it going.

“I did my best on every shot. I struck the ball beautifully. I just didn’t quite have it. That’s part of golf. Sometimes they bounce one way. Sometimes they bounce the other. Like Kooch’s ball on 17. Our balls land right next to each other. His goes to 4 feet and mine stays at 20. It’s just part of it.”

When Kuchar was errant off the tee, he was able to recover with a stellar short game. He put himself in position for birdies or, at worst, stress-free pars. Harman, while crushing some strong drives, didn’t as often reach the green for makeable birdie attempts.

“He was able to get it a little closer to the hole for birdie than I was,” Harman said. “He had a couple drop. Golf is a game of inches. When you can get one to go (in), you start feeling like the next one’s going, and the next one, and it builds on itself. That’s what he did today. It all culminated on 18.

“It’s just about being patient. Today was his day, and my day will come. It’s just a matter of waiting on it. Kooch has put in a lot of work and a lot of time into today happening. So there’s a lot of work and a lot of time in front of me.”

Sunday did produce a bit of coincidence. Harman also was in contention at the Northern Trust Open in February in Los Angeles. His fourth-round playing partner was fellow former University of Georgia player Bubba Watson, who shot 64 and won while Harman had a top-10 finish (tie for third). Kuchar, a Georgia Tech graduate, shot 64 and won Sunday while Harman placed in the top 10.

“I think I ought to get a cut of these winner’s checks, how good I’m making these guys play,” Harman quipped. “Maybe I make them feel comfortable.”

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